Scott Gomez

Scott Carlos Gomez (born December 23, 1979) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player.

He was the assistant coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Gomez had previously played in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators.

The previous year, Gomez led the South Surrey Eagles of the Tier II Junior "A" British Columbia Hockey League to the Gold medal game of the 1997 Royal Bank Cup against the hometown Summerside Western Capitals; Gomez and his South Surrey Eagles were defeated 4–3.

In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Gomez was selected with the 27th pick of the first round by the New Jersey Devils.

At the time, he was playing for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and had just been named to the WHL's All-Rookie team.

He also played for the Alaska Aces.

In the season after he was drafted, he justified the Devils' decision by scoring 108 points in 58 games for the Americans.

This earned him a spot on the WHL West First All-Star Team.

After this impressive WHL performance, Gomez was brought to New Jersey for the 1999–2000 NHL season, making him the first Alaska-born NHL player.

In his rookie NHL season, he had 51 assists and 70 points for the Devils.

For his efforts, he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie and played in the NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.

Gomez scored 10 points in the 2000 playoffs as the Devils won their second Stanley Cup.

In his sophomore season, Gomez totaled 63 points.

The Devils again made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals, but were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche in seven games.

In the 2001–02 season, Gomez's numbers dropped, as he scored just 10 goals and 48 points.

The Devils bowed out of the playoffs in the first round that season, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Gomez did not play a game in that series due to injury.

The 2002–03 season, however, was an improvement for Gomez and the Devils.

Gomez tallied 55 points and again helped the Devils win the Stanley Cup, this time scoring 12 points during the playoffs.

The 2003–04 season was an even better year for Gomez, as he scored 70 points, the most since his rookie year.

He also tied for the NHL lead in assists, with 56.

However, the Devils lost in the playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers.

During the NHL lockout that forced the cancellation of the 2004–05 season, Gomez initially went to Russia, but ultimately decided to return to his native hometown of Anchorage, Alaska, and played for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.

Throughout the season, "Scotty" was the face of the Alaska franchise, as well as the ECHL; he led the ECHL in scoring and won league Most Valuable Player honors.

Gomez's season ended early when he was seriously injured by Bakersfield Condors enforcer Ashlee Langdone, who checked him into an open bench door during Game 4 of the Pacific Division Semifinals.

Gomez sustained a broken pelvis from the incident.

Despite the lockout, Gomez returned to form in 2005–06 and set career highs in goals scored and points, tallying a total of 33 goals and 84 points.

He would never reach 20 goals in a season again, let alone 30.

Along with linemates Brian Gionta, Patrik Eliáš and, before Eliáš' comeback, Zach Parise, Gomez helped rally the Devils from a poor beginning of the season by finishing the season on an 11-game winning streak and clinching the division title in the last game.

Gomez finished the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs with five goals and four assists in nine games.

On July 25, 2006, Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello accepted an arbitrator's ruling of a $5 million, one-year contract for Gomez for the 2006–07 season.

During the 2006–07 season, he led the Devils to the second round of the playoffs and totalled 60 points.

Hence, he would go on to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2007.

On July 1, 2007, Gomez signed a $51.5 million, seven-year contract with the New York Rangers.

On the same day, the Rangers signed Chris Drury, who also wears the number 23.

To settle who would wear number 23 while playing for the Rangers, a puck was flipped, with Drury winning and earning the right to continue wearing number 23, while Gomez changed his number to 19.

Coincidentally, Drury won the Calder Memorial Trophy the year before Gomez won the same award.

When asked about his decision to leave the Devils, Gomez said, "I think it's more that New Jersey and I didn't really talk much… …Both sides were ready to move on. They're a tremendous organization. So many memories, what can I say? Everything I have and everything I've done is because of them. But I think at the end of the day, it was time."

Gomez faced his former club for the first time at Prudential Center on November 14, 2007.